Outcry as Tory stays Down Under

A London councillor who has been on holiday in Australia for three months has insisted that he will continue to pocket his £800-a-month allowance.

Chris Harris, 35, spoke out for the first time after being stripped of the Tory whip in Barnet last Friday. He said he would not step down, despite being 10,000 miles away, and would go on banking his "piffling" allowance.

The father-of-one said: "I am still answering emails. I don't think we are going to come straight back as I hear the weather's getting colder in Britain." Lib-Dem councillor Jack Cohen said: "It is an outrage."